You’re Locked In A Room With A Serial Rapist, Corrupt Politician, and a Live Nation Exec…

I really wanted to start this as a Marry, Fuck, Kill because there is a treasure trove of hilarity in fucking a serial rapist but I thought that might be a bit crass for the current comedic climate so I’ll leave that to the imagination.

I really didn’t want to talk about the whole Travis Scott x Astroworld Fest fiasco because to me it’s like, who the fuck cares? I don’t mean about the people dying; that’s sad stuff, all young people too. That should never happen at a place where people go to find happiness and a sense of peace in their crazy lives. I mean who the fuck cares in the sense that you have a mega conglomerate backing a festival, what could go wrong?, are we really surprised? etc. We’ve seen time and time again, people and corporations throwing festivals that have no business doing so and the negative outcomes of those, yet here we are. But with all the finger pointing going on at specific people and events, it made me irritated enough to sit down at my computer, because at the end of the day, this is a much bigger picture than saying “Fuck Travis Scott”.

Now, let’s be clear here, I like Travis Scott’s music. I’ve seen him perform live and he puts on a great show, which in the world of hip-hop, it can be very hit or miss. He’s a production genius and can really turn any artist or track into a catchy, radio-ready hit overnight. He knows how he wants his music, his merch, and his whole business to be run. I really don’t think it’s a coincidence that he knocked up one of the most influential people in the world either. He knows what he’s doing and I respect that. Do I know what he’s like in person? No, and I don’t care. I have better things to worry about. Like climate change and and atrocities against human beings and animals all over the world. What the fuck do I care what a celebrity is like in real life? For people to sit here and blame this one guy for all of the problems at this festival, is - I want to say idiotic - but really, it’s misinformed. “Oh but Kerry, he incites violence and crazy stuff at his shows”. OK and what other major artist doesn’t get the crowd worked up in one way or another? Whether it’s clap your hands and sing along or “let’s open this pit up”, artist and crowd interaction is as old as sin. Some artists are a little crazier than others, sure. There’s always an element of potential physical harm or a beer spilled on you at a live show. We’ve all been pushed, suffocated, and punched in a pit of some kind at a show. I don’t care if you’re going to Megadeath or Harry Styles - it happens. And at the end of the day, this type of publicity sells! Good, bad, violent, whatever, it moves tickets, and it gets people talking about the show. People to this day are still talking about Ozzy Osbourne biting the head off of a bat at a show, and that was before Twitter and Snapchat and lazy reporting where some asshole can take tweets and turn them into an article.

That brings me to my next point though, the crowd. I’m sorry to say this but people really need to chill out a little bit at shows. People are THE MOST selfish creatures on planet Earth. They take, they push, they even kill to get what they want and where they want it. We see it every year on Black Friday. People getting trampled at Best Buy over fucking TVs and shit that 3 months from now will only be worth $200. THAT’S idiotic. I can imagine a lot of these deaths and injuries didn’t happen in back alleyways or in a bathroom stall. No they happened in front of hundreds of people! I can imagine all, if not most, were caused because everyone “needed” to push to the front of the stage, to get closer to Travis Scott. As if what? He’s going to take you home and marry you? Give you a recording deal? Bring you on stage? Give you a million dollars for your dying niece (hello weirdos on Facebook) HELL NO. You trampled over people and didn’t help people who couldn’t breathe or were injured to get closer to the celebrity on stage. That’s some Baal, fake idol, worshipping shit right there. You need to calm down. You’re not better than anybody else. Travis Scott isn’t going to change your life. People were killed because of the crowd’s selfishness. And it’s not just his crowd; it’s every crowd. Every concert, event, whatever, has the same mentality, and it’s scary. Something needs to change somewhere.

“Oh but Kerry, where was the staff and security, you can’t blame this all on the crowd”. Like I said earlier, I’m not blaming anything on anyone in particular, we’re looking at the bigger picture here. It’s my understanding that the event was severely understaffed. I read an article on the Daily Mail that reported “for every 500-1000 patrons, there was 1 security person”. If that was the ratio, crowd control is near impossible, and it’s even more impossible to get anyone injured to the medical tent or clear pathways for EMTs. Another piece to this, are the ways in which Live Nation acquires staff. Anyone hired for security (unless directly employed by the venue) is contracted out by Live Nation. Those security staffing companies provide X amount of people for a particular rate. The people these security staffing companies hire can realistically be anyone - training is provided on-site and it’s all gig-based work, meaning employees can work any number of gigs that they want in any of the staffing companies’ venues. It also means people have very little experience working these events unless they regularly take gigs, some may have never even been to the venue before. Live Nation pays as little as possible to these people - always minimum wage, and pays out Net30, meaning after 30 days, you’ll get your check for the gig. How do I know this? I’ve worked for one. You might want to ask yourself why Live Nation, a billion dollar company would put such little value in the safety of their patrons to not only understaff huge events, but also not pay well enough to hire trained professionals to handle situations like this.

And now, for the icing on the cake…Live Nation. Much like the banking fiasco of 2008, we REALLY let these guys get out of hand. They own EVERYTHING, or just about close to it. It’s very rare to go to buy tickets for a show and not get re-directed to TicketMaster. That’s Live Nation. They have their hands in management companies, nightclubs, music venues, ticketing sites, promo companies, agencies, just about anything related to events in some way or another. Imagine if more artists put their foot down and told their management team and their agents “No, I’m not putting my shows up on TicketMaster” and used an outside party. But it doesn’t happen. Go ask your favorite artists why if you truly give a shit. They’re making it impossible to compete and be independent, whether you’re an artist or a venue. They’ll even pay off agencies to throw their artists, who have no business being in these large venues to play there, and keep cycling the money all around. I see it all the time. And those fees! It’s like taking your ticket and doubling the price. And nobody bats an eye! Where do those fees go you ask? Into the pockets of some pretty unsavory people. AEG, which is part of the Live Nation umbrella is owned by a guy named Phillip Anschutz had his tax records pulled a few years ago was found to be giving lots of money to anti-gay and anti-abortion groups on top of lots of politicians that I probably wouldn’t want to be stuck in a conversation with. Look it up if you don’t believe me.

So again, ask yourself, who am I really blaming? Am I making a conscious effort to try and change my habits when it comes to who I support and what shows I go to? And I know it’s sometimes avoidable! I get it. But blaming a performer, or one specific thing here for what is a much bigger issue, is directing your energy in all the wrong places.